Life in Haiti

So we made it. After 12 hours of traveling and fighting through what is possibly the most chaotic airport experience of my life, we arrived at the apparent project. The best part of the day was riding in the back of the "tap tap" through Port Au Prince. A "tap tap" is a truck that baically has had it's gate taken off and is used for carrying luggage long distances. The "tap tap" also had wooden benches on both sides for passangers to sit on. So basically the guys on the trip sat in the back of this truck and rode through out Port Au Prince until we reached the Apparent Projet's guest house. Almost immediately after leaving the airport I saw the tent cities for the first time. It was hard to see this kind of poverty. I have definitely seen poverty in the States but nothing like this. These people literally used the tents that Americans would take on camping trips to substitute as a house. This may sound awful, but as soon as I saw this I started to think I'll be gone in a week and back to reality, I don't have to deal with this. I was simply trying to ignore the issue. But the truth is that for a lot of people, tent city is reality.
Through out the rest of our ride, which was probably half an hour, we saw some more of Haiti. Unfinished roads, housing structures that would never last in the states and Haitian people were literally everywhere. I really tried to focus in on the Haitian people during this ride. I wanted to see their faces and see what they really were like. I realized while riding in the back of the tap-tap that the beautiful thing about being created in the Image of God is that all humans are the same. This ride really showed me the heart of these people and the heart of this nation. They are just regular people that God has a plan for. They have the same potential that I do, same skills, talents, I was really impressed by watchng them. I really can't pin-point why Haiti is in such poverty, but the fear that many display coming to this island could not be more wrong. There is certaintly danger in Haiti but I'm not convinced it's an awful situation. Rather I would say this island has potential. From what I saw out of my ride today in the "tap tap" was a nation that God is alive in, that God is working in. I'm glad I'm here because today I realized that for this week, I get to witness God work. My prayer for the rest of the week is that by his grace I may actually be apart of this work. But even if I'm not I know it's going to be a great week.

In Christ,

Joey

We're Here!

Just a quick note to let you know that we made it to Haiti and are settling in. Over the next few days we'll have one or more of the students post their thoughts and observations of our trip. Thanks so much for your prayers and support!

Keith